sick as a horse

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.

'I'm as sick as a horse,' is a vulgar phrase which is used when a person is exceedingly sick. As a horse is larger than a man, it is customary to use it by way of comparison to denote largeness or excess either in a serious or ludicrous way, as horse-chestnut, horse-leech, horse-laugh, &c. We also say, as sick as a dog.

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